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)' DLP is an $800 marvel. One chip holds as many as 2 million mirrors, each smaller than the width of a strand of hair, corresponding to a pixel in a projected image. Current technology allows for 1,280 columns by 720 rows of pixels (in 1995 it was 640x480). The more pixels, the crisper the image.

An electrode instructs a corresponding dark metal oxide hinge to tilt each mirror toward or away from the light several thousand times per second, creating 1,024 shades of gray.

TI has more than 400 patents on its DLP technology but scrappy companies think they can do it better. One venture capital-backed Silicon Valley company vows to introduce its own mirrored chip. It could be ready for market within two years--at
a tenth the cost of DLP. Regardless of whether it delivers on
its promises, the price of digital projectors and HDTVs will
continue to fall.

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